How to record the front and back camera at the same time on iPhone

Updated August 2026

Recording both iPhone cameras at once used to need special software. Today there are two ways to do it: Apple's built-in Dual Capture, if you have an iPhone 17, or a dual-camera app, which works on far more iPhones and gives you more control. Here is how each one works.

The short answer

• iPhone 17 or iPhone Air: open the Camera app, choose Video, then Dual Capture.
• iPhone XS through iPhone 16: use a dual-camera app. The hardware supports it; Apple's Camera app just does not expose it on these models.
• iPhone X or older: not possible. The chip cannot run two cameras at once.

Option 1 — Apple's built-in Dual Capture (iPhone 17 and iPhone Air)

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Swipe to Video.
3. Tap the options control and choose Dual Capture.
4. Tap the shutter. Both cameras record together, with your face in a small window you can drag around.

It records at 1080p or 4K, at 24 or 30 frames per second. The layout is fixed: the rear camera fills the frame and the front camera sits in a small window. There is no split-screen option, and no filters or background effects.

Option 2 — a dual-camera app (iPhone XS and newer)

A dedicated app unlocks the same hardware on every iPhone from the XS onwards, and gives you the choices Apple's version does not. With Dual Camera - Front & Back Pro:

1. Install the app and allow camera and microphone access.
2. Tap Effects and pick a layout — picture-in-picture, split left/right, split top/bottom, or a single camera.
3. Drag the small window where you want it, pinch to resize it, and set its shape, corners and border if you like.
4. Tap the red button to record. Tap again to pause, and again to carry on — each stretch becomes a clip.
5. Tap Save. Your clips are joined into one video and saved to Photos.

Getting a better-looking result

Frame the small window so it does not cover the subject

In picture-in-picture, drag your face window into a corner with nothing important behind it. You can resize it too — smaller when the scene matters, larger when your reaction does.

Use split-screen for interviews and two-sided conversations

Split-screen gives both cameras equal weight, which suits interviews, tutorials, and anything where the two views matter equally. You can drag the divider to give one side more room.

Remove or replace your background

Instead of showing your room, you can cut yourself out of the small window so only you appear over the main camera. In single-camera mode you can go further and replace the background entirely — blur it, fill it with a colour, or drop in a photo. No green sheet needed.

Record in clips rather than one long take

Pausing between shots keeps takes short and lets you delete a clip you are not happy with before saving. Everything you keep is joined into a single video.

Common problems

The app says dual camera is not supported

Your iPhone is older than the iPhone XS, or you are running it in the Simulator or in a "Designed for iPhone" mode on a Mac or Apple Vision headset. None of those have simultaneous dual-camera hardware.

The phone gets warm during long takes

Running two cameras, compositing them and encoding video is genuinely demanding, so some warmth is normal. Effects like background removal add to it. If you are recording for a long time, turn off effects you are not using.

The video saved differently from what I saw

It should not. A well-built dual-camera app composes the preview and the recording from the same frames, so what you see is exactly what is saved.

More: Dual Camera overview · How to record both cameras · Which iPhones support it · iPhone 17 Dual Capture vs an app